Six American Academy of Art Students Make Finals in National Wine Label Contest and Need Your Vote!

For the second consecutive year, half of the 12 finalists in the 2014 Canvas Artist Series Competition are American Academy of Art students. The contest, sponsored by the Hyatt Corporation, asks participants to design a creative wine label for one of the Canvas wine varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio.

One winner from each of the four categories will receive a $5,000 scholarship and may have their label design featured in a special bottling of Canvas wines. Voting began January 5 and runs through January 31.

The Academy’s Illustration Co-Chair and Instructor Rich Kryczka has encouraged his students to submit to the Canvas Wine contest for the past three years (the contest started in 2010). A total of 88 students from around the nation submitted entries to the contest this year —exactly half, 44, were submitted by Academy students.

One winner from each wine variety category will win the scholarship. In the Cabernet category, all three finalists are Academy students: Hassan Boxwalla, Vsevolod Shchepanovskyy and Oscar Joyo. Kevin Fagaragan and Tom Ryan are the Academy students vying for the Pinot Noir category win. Gabrielle Carson is a finalist in the Chardonnay category.

Joyo is a life drawing major while the other five Academy finalists are illustration majors.

One vote may be cast for each category per registered email address. The public is encouraged to vote based on the “originality of (each) entrant’s creative interpretation of the varietal characteristics of one Canvas Wine.”https://www.canvaswines.com/artistseries/gallery.

The Canvas wine website included short descriptions on the varietal characteristics, with Cabernet Sauvignon reading “cedar, tobacco, rich dark fruit, and hints of oak and spice,”Pinot Noir as having aromas of “vivid red fruit with hints of spice and oak,”Chardonnay with “apple blossom and honeysuckle aromatics,”and lastly, Pinot Grigio with “fruity and flowery fragrances reminiscent of the countryside in summer.”

Along with their label designs, students also had to submit two written essays (maximum of 100 words each) —one, a statement on themselves and why they aspire to be artists, and the other, a description on their submission and the inspiration behind it. Voters are asked to also consider the “originality and appeal”of these written descriptions.

The Michael Mondavi family developed canvas wines, and they are served exclusively at Hyatt hotels.

Submissions for the contest were collected from Oct. 1 through Dec. 15, and the finalists were announced Dec. 22. Again, voting ends at midnight, Jan. 31. The six American Academy of Art student finalists will find out if they’re category winners on or around Feb. 15.